Her Prayers Changed the Town

For years 96-year-old Anna Bebermeyer pleaded with God to close a certain bar in her hometown, Warrenton, Missouri. The devastation it was doing to the people grieved her, so she begged God to remove this influence.

One day the restaurant unexpectedly announced it was closing its bar. What a miracle, but God wasn't finished!

Anna's pastor's wife had put a notice in the newspaper inviting anyone who wanted to learn more about the Bible to come to a Bible class. Soon her living room was too crowded, so she went to the local restaurant and asked if they could meet there.

They agreed and put the group in the very room where liquor had been sold only days before. God, who delights in giving exceedingly abundantly beyond what we ask or think, had given to her good measure, pressed down, and running over.

"I'm so happy, I want to clap my hands," this dear old lady said when her daughter visited her in the nursing home. But she can't clap her hands because of a stroke. About all she can do is lie in bed and pray. In fact, much of her time is spent in prayer.

Could it be that in the inevitable slowing down process of aging, God invites women to a greater life of faith and prayer? Anna, the first older woman mentioned in the New Testament, provides us with a role model. "And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day" (Luke 2:73 KJV). What a fruitful life she must have had!

Dear Lord, thank you for the older women who are living examples of faith and fruit-bearing.